Li Gang came to see Xiao Ming in person, naturally made Xiao Ming flattered, after hearing Gu Xiaoliu's report, Xiao Ming hurriedly greeted the door, Li Gang is not elegant, but there is a frosty look on his face, he was relegated to Fujian for a few years, Xuanhe returned to the capital for seven years, and now the Ministry of Rites is mixed, and Xuanhe officially became the Zhengqing of Taichang Temple in nine years.

Li Gang was born in Jinshi, and he was very worried about the current situation very early, and he was very uneasy about the current situation of internal and external troubles, and persuaded the emperor to rectify the dynasty, reform the military system, and establish a new ambition, but he was considered out of place by Huizong, at that time Huizong was fascinated by Yang Jian and Cai Jing, and he was devoted to building Genyue, which was the time when the scenery of the Great Song Dynasty was infinite.

Since it is out of place, and full of complaints, it is difficult to let you stay in front of you, Li Gang was demoted twice in the same year, once to Ezhou, once to the tax envoy of Shaxian County, Nanjianzhou, Fujian, it is said that Li Gang has an excellent official reputation in Fujian, and he also has quite a political achievement, and the legendary Shaxian snacks seem to have something to do with him.

When Xiao Ming saw Li Gang, he was watching the guys in Richanglong with great interest, Xiao Ming had no place to live in Beijing, and he was still staying in Richanglong's semicolon, Li Gang saw Xiao Ming wearing clothes and stepping on shoe pads and came out in a panic, which was funny.

"The ancients had a beautiful talk of welcoming guests, don't you want me to meet Li Boji today!"

Xiao Ming arched his hand and said: "Slack and slack, Master Li can come, Peng Shen is shining, if it is Cai Jing Wang Huang and the like, let me see me nowhere else!" ”

"Oh?" Li Gang glanced at Xiao Ming in surprise, didn't say anything, and bowed to Xiao Ming.

Xiao Ming let Li Gang into the house to serve tea, and Li Gang asked Xiao Ming: "Uncle Zhang, Lord Zhang, do you know each other?" ”

Xiao Ming nodded and said, "Lord Zhang and I are good friends, I heard that he is also in the capital, can it be true?" ”

Li Gang nodded and said: "The imperial court has appointed him as the transfer envoy of the South Road, responsible for the money and grain of the two roads in Beijing and Tokyo, and he is currently in the capital...... Uncle Ke! Cannon's"

"Uncle Ke!" Xiao Ming was puzzled, and then he understood what Li Gang was talking about, so he smiled and said: "I heard about this, that cannon weighs about a few thousand catties, and it takes a lot of effort for Lord Zhang to transport it to the capital!" ”

Li Gang hurriedly said: "How many more cannons do you have?" ”

Xiao Ming smiled: "This door has already made me almost bankrupt!" How many more can we have? ”

Li Gang was a little disappointed, Xiao Ming knew what he meant, so he tested him and said, "May I ask Lord Li, although the cannon is very powerful, do you really expect that the cannon alone will be able to keep the Jin soldiers from coming?" ”

"What does that mean?" Li Gang asked.

Xiao Ming said: "If this is the case, I can bankrupt my family to build a few more Krupp cannons for the imperial court, but I dare to guarantee that these sharp weapons will rust and rot within three years, and even fail when the Jurchen Tartars come to attack, believe it or not?" ”

"Why is this happening?" Li Gang was puzzled.

"Although the cannon is good, there is always someone to maintain, maintain, oil, wipe, someone to inspect and inspect, and to ensure that the shells will not be damaged and damp, which requires the imperial court to come up with silver, specifically to raise such a group of people, less people are not good, but where there are more people, there must be a leader in charge, so the military department or the ministry needs to make up another official vacancy, and then it is the salary, etc., it will not be long before someone will put their children and nephews or relatives and friends through the relationship."

Li Gang frowned and asked, "Then where?" ”

"And you see, such a big guy with a complex organization is so powerful in wartime that it must be served by proficient professionals, right? But will the person who comes in through a relationship be a professional? Over time, maybe even those who specialize in maintenance will be replaced, and then what? And then it's a huge scrap of metal......"

Xiao Ming's words are not alarmist, even in later generations, such things are not uncommon, not to mention in the Song Dynasty, where the bureaucratic atmosphere is heavier, Li Gang is almost shocked when he hears this, Xiao Ming is just talking about a Krupp cannon, but in fact, looking at the officialdom, how many things are like this, I am afraid that there will be more "scrap copper and rotten iron" like this in the future!

After a long silence, the two of them were seated at any time, but the atmosphere was extremely depressed, Li Gang knew that Xiao Ming was taking this opportunity to say a truth in officialdom, but how could he avoid such an ending? By extension, or from a point to point, it won't be long before the behemoth of the Great Song Dynasty will become a huge "scrap copper and rotten iron"?

With Li Gang's knowledge in that era, Xiao Ming didn't expect him to understand the truth he said, but Li Gang gave him a surprising answer! Because he said, "I know there's something wrong with the roots!" ”

"But what should I do?" He asked.

Xiao Ming secretly admired in his heart, this is a respectable spirit of exploration, since he came to the era of the Great Song Dynasty, he has been moved by such people many times, it is not that the ancients are not smart, but no one has given them the empowerment to come to them at once, people in this era have a lot of exploration spirit that even later generations do not have.

Due to the reform of the imperial examination in the Song Dynasty, most of the scholars and doctors came from the common people, these people dared to be the first in the world and had a strong sense of responsibility, but after staying in the officialdom for a long time, it was inevitable that they would go with the flow, and under the system of feudal bureaucracy, there were not many people like Li Gang who could stand alone.

Xiao Ming said to Li Gang: "You know that absolute rights will inevitably lead to absolute **, this is the root of the matter!" As an official, as a manager, he is high, and the national court has created majesty for him, in order to let him serve the people, but he has become a scourge to the people, this is putting the cart before the horse! ”

Li Gang praised: "Well spoken! Please keep going, don't stop! ”

Xiao Ming said: "The change of the system can put an end to the root cause of all the **, I want the superior to face up to this phenomenon, so as to change the system!" ”

Li Gang asked: "Today's prince is benevolent, if he can ascend to the throne, he will definitely work hard to change the official system, and the system change you said will not be too far away, right?" ”

Xiao Ming said: "The crown prince Zhao Huan is benevolent but too weak, at the beginning, Zhang Ge Lao once said that today's saint is frivolous, he really does not pay attention to political affairs and Qiaoling color, likes landscape playthings and calligraphy and painting articles, can these things govern the country?" ”

Li Gang said: "Although it is not good to comment on the saint, what you said is also reasonable, but isn't the prince's weakness a sign of benevolence?" ”

Xiao Ming said: "The prince is weak, not that he is not benevolent, he will be swayed by feelings, if there is a capable minister to assist, it can become a big thing, otherwise it will not be able to get rid of the fate of the weak government, for the time being, there are too many people who can have an impact on the prince, I can't draw conclusions about this issue, I advise Lord Li to observe it again." ”

Li Gang said: "The country has decayed to such a moment, how can I sit idly by, but you are right, that is, the crown prince's position is unstable now, and there are too many people in the East Palace and outside the East Palace to influence him!" How can this be solved? ”

Li Gang sat down with Xiao Ming and began to analyze the current situation, at present, the crown prince Zhao Huan is in charge of the country, but his position is becoming more and more unstable, Huizong's sixth son Yun Wang Zhao Kai is the most powerful competitor, speaking of this Zhao Kai is really not simple, he is the most favored one among the eleven sons of Emperor Huizong.

Zhao Kai's mother is Yisu Guifei Wang, was also one of Huizong's favorite concubines, Zhao Kai this person greatly inherited the fine tradition of Huizong, and his father Song Huizong is a person who has achieved success in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, since he was a child, smart and clever, deeply favored by Huizong. He is very fond of painting and has a lot of accumulation. Good at painting flowers and birds, extremely exquisite.

And it is said that he still has the talent of the champion, he once secretly participated in the imperial examination in the first year of Chonghe, because his literary talent is indeed extraordinary, he was invincible all the way and entered the palace examination. He played even better in the palace examination and won the first place. After the list was released, Zhao Kai told Huizong the truth. Huizong was happy, but he was afraid that the world's scholars would gossip, so he made Wang Ang, the second place (list eye) of the year, the champion.

As the prince Zhao Huan is wooden by nature, and he is not favored by Huizong, if it were not for Zhao Huan has always been his duty, so that Huizong could not find an excuse and estimated that he would have been abolished long ago, so Zhao Huan is still cautious every day, for fear that one day he will be abolished if he is not careful.

But the prince is benevolent and has a good reputation, and the traitor Liang Shicheng is very optimistic about Zhao Huan and takes care of him in many ways, but the threat always comes from his younger brothers, especially Zhao Kai, Zhao Kai is also quite scheming, he actually found Wang Huang, and recognized him as a teacher, and pulled this old thief into his camp.

But Wang Hao proposed to abolish the prince's proposal several times, but was blocked back by Liang Shicheng, the prince and the prince Geng Nanzhong had no choice but to let Zhao Huan go to Cai Jing, Cai Jing was cunning and cunning, and took a neutral attitude towards this matter, the battle for the heir is very cruel, and one will die without a place to bury if he is not careful, but Cai Jing's cleverness lies in the fact that he sent his two sons to stand in line, one followed King Yun, and the other followed the prince, and he concentrated on serving the current emperor Song Huizong, which is very safe. If any party has a problem, he Cai Jingjing will be invincible.

Now that the prince is in charge of the country, and it happens that the Jin soldiers are attacking the city, any propositions and orders of the prince will be closely monitored by Zhao Kai, the king of Yun, and the slightest mistake will attract a fierce attack, and Li Gang is also worried about this matter! He told Xiao Ming all these secrets because he thought that Xiao Ming would be a person who helped him make ideas.

After Xiao Ming listened, he just sighed: "The most ruthless emperor's family!" ”

Li Gang was still staring at Xiao Ming, hoping that Xiao Ming would be as wise as he was just now to come up with a good idea with him, but Xiao Ming asked: "In the capital, there are also two people, Zhao Huan, the king of Dan, and Zhao Gou, the king of Kang, who are also the best among the sons of the saints, what does Lord Li think?" ”

Li Gang pondered for a moment and said: "King Dan is stingy and timid, and King Kang is reckless and naïve!" ”

Xiao Ming gave Li Gang a thumbs up and said: "To the point, since Lord Li is bent on protecting the prince, Xiao is not talented, and he is willing to help the adult, but I have one condition, I don't know if Lord Li can agree?" ”

Li Gang said: "But it doesn't hurt to talk about it, as long as I don't let Li be a traitor, I will agree!" ”

Xiao Ming laughed and said: "Lord Li is so humorous, I will let you do such a thing, I only hope that Lord Li, no matter how the political situation changes in the future, please take care of your life, and don't do anything that is righteous for a while!" ”

Xiao Ming's words made Li Gang fall into deep thought, but soon he solemnly nodded and agreed to Xiao Ming.

The next day, Li Gang went on a pilgrimage to see the prince and introduced Xiao Ming to him, the prince Zhao Huan was reluctant to Xiao Ming, and asked Xiao Ming how to retreat the Jin soldiers, Xiao Ming said: "The Jin soldiers are already about to retreat, just wait, because first, the Jin soldiers are two armies in the east and west, all the way in Taiyuan was repulsed, and the grain road of the Jin soldiers has been cut off by themselves, and the two militia towns in Hebei have bravely resisted the Jin, so Yan Zongwang can't hold on for long!" ”

Zhao Huan was immediately overjoyed and asked Xiao Ming what reward he wanted? Xiao Ming was about to mention this matter, so he asked the prince for permission to deposit the silver that had been hoarded by the southwest and two roads due to the siege of Bianjing to be deposited in Xiao Ming's Taiping Silver Village! and took out the edict given to him by Huizong. Since it was approved by Emperor Huizong, of course, all the silver of the household department could be deposited in the designated silver village.

Xiao Ming still has a lot to do, and since he has come to Tokyo, he naturally needs to do a lot of things.